


Funny Bone

by ragewerthers



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Gen, Laughter, Tickling, Why doesn't Iggy laugh?!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 14:11:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17448485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ragewerthers/pseuds/ragewerthers
Summary: Have you ever heard Ignis laugh?  Neither have the boys and they are on a mission to figure out why.  Maybe it all has to do with a missing funny bone?





	Funny Bone

**Author's Note:**

> This was a piece of fluff I wanted to write after working on another fic and getting caught up in the ANGST! Hopefully it'll bring a smile to whomever or even a laugh or two!

“Have you ever noticed that like…. Ignis never laughs?” Prompto asked from his perch atop a rather large boulder near the dock Noctis was currently fishing from.  He had been skimming through a few of his most recent pics on his camera, cataloging their adventure, when the idea had struck him due to a particular photo.

Turning his head slightly at the comment from his friend, Noct kept his eyes on the water, reeling in his line a little bit more.  He himself was sat on the edge of the dock, boots and tackle box beside him as his feet dangled above the water.

“Specs?  Of course he laughs,” the Prince said simply, blue eyes scanning the lake for any ripples in the water to alert him to his intended targets.

“Really?  Name one time you’ve honestly heard him laugh... chuckle… giggle!” Prompto shot back, looking down at his friend and daring him to try.

“Uhh… well…,” Noct paused as he reeled his line back entirely, setting the pole over his lap so he could change out his lure.  “I don’t know. I don’t chronicle when each one of you does something human.”

“Yeah, well… I do.  And I’m tellin’ ya, Iggy doesn’t laugh!” Prompto said, pointing to his camera and nearly teetering off the rock in the process.

“Easy there, Prom,” Noct chuckled as he watched his friend flailing his arms to try and steady himself.  “What made you think of this anyway?”

Finally sitting back a little further from the edge of his outlook, Prompto took a breath, skimming back through his photos to get to the one that had started this whole thing.

“Remember a couple nights ago when Gladio fell through his old camp chair?” he asked, a smile instantly breaking out over his features as he found the exact photo he was looking for.

The picture was only slightly blurred as Prompto had been laughing so hard he couldn’t keep his hands steady.  In it the only things visible of the Shield of Lucis were his arms and legs as they dangled over the crumpled frame of his chair, the rest of his body sucked in toward the center with his backside firmly planted on the rocky surface of the haven.  In the background, Noct was visibly bent over, arms wrapped around his middle as he laughed so hard he couldn’t stand properly.

Currently, said Prince was once again laughing at the memory as he finished tying on the new cactuar lure.

“That was… the best night of my life,” he chuckled, remembered the holler the man had given, sounding like a surprised Chocobo before ending up stuck in his mangled chair.  The memory sent him off snickering again and Prompto giggled as well as he slid from his perch to join Noct on the dock.

“Funny right?  Heck, even the big guy was laughing about it.  But look,” he said as he knelt beside his friend, holding the camera out for him to see.

Noct squinted a little to see the picture, smirking as he focused first on Gladio, then chuckling as he saw his own reaction.  Finally his eyes came to rest on the third figure in the picture. There was Iggy, but where Noct was all but collapsed over in a laughing fit, Ignis was stood with a light smile, one hand slightly covering his mouth as he watched the events unfolding.

“Huh..,”

“See?!  I told you!  That was hilarious, dude, but Iggy barely cracked a smile!  And then I started thinking… I have never heard him laugh for as long as I’ve known you guys.  Ever… forever, never, ever in forever, never!”

Noct chuckled and gave the blondes shoulder a slight nudge as he rambled, making the other squeak a little as he fell back onto his butt, camera clutched to his chest.

“Okay, okay.  I get what you’re saying, but… I… I don’t know?  Maybe he really just didn’t find it funny?”

“Dude,” Prompto said flatly.

“What?”

Prompto shook his head.  “This is bigger than just not finding something funny!  Do you think Iggy doesn’t know how to laugh?” He gasped a second later and covered his mouth with one of his hands.  “Maybe his brains so full of Ignis stuff he’s forgotten how to!”

Noct rolled his eyes, waving his hand to dismiss his fishing rod and tackle, realizing there was going to be no peaceful fishing now that Prompto was working on some sort of Ignis conspiracy theory.

“Just because  _ I _ can’t think of a time Ignis laughed doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened.  Lets go ask Gladio. I’m sure he’ll remember something for you,” he said simply as he scooted back from the edge of the dock, tugging his boots back on.

\-------------------------------------------------

A few minutes later, the pair had started to make their way back to the haven, both spotting Gladio a little ways away working on a few exercises with his greatsword.

Watching them approach, the Shield dismissed his weapon, ducking down to grab one of his towels and a bottle of water he’d placed nearby.

“I thought you two were fishin’?” he asked, wiping some of the sweat off his brow.

“Detective Prompto, here, is on the case of the missing giggles,” Noct teased as Prompto huffed beside him.

Gladio paused looking between the two for a long second, eyes narrowed slightly in confusion.

“....... what?”

Prompto sighed and fiddled with the bracelets on his wrist.  “I realized that Iggy doesn’t laugh. Like… not once in my entire existence with you guys have I ever heard him even chuckle!”

“But  _ I _ told Prompto that just because I couldn’t come up with a time Specs laughed doesn’t mean it’s never happened.  So go ahead. Tell him that Ignis laughs.”

There was another long pause where Gladio looked between the two younger men, something contemplative crossing his features before he finally spoke.

“He doesn’t.”

“AH HA!”

“WHAT?!”

Noctis looked at his Shield in complete disbelief while Prompto stood smugly beside him.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.  He has to have laughed at some point!” he stated simply as Gladio finished taking a drink of his water and shook his head.

“Nope.  As far as I can remember Iggy has never actually, honest to gods laughed at anything,” he said simply as he gave a little half shrug.  “He’s a pun master, and I know he’s gotta sense of humour, but… I don’t know. He’s always been that way.”

“How come I never noticed before?” Noct mumbled a bit to himself, wondering how he could’ve missed something that came so naturally.  If he really thought hard on it he also couldn’t recall seeing Ignis laugh when they were kids either.

“Don’t beat yourself up over it, buddy,” Prompto said, sidling up beside his friend and wrapping an arm around his shoulders.  “Remember when I almost had a heart attack when he started humming the Chocobo song? Iggy is just… superhuman apparently. Though… I do wonder if there’s anything that can make him laugh.”

“Doubt it.  I’ve tried,” Gladio said offhandedly with a little chuckle of his own.  “You aren’t the only one whose noticed. I’ve tried jokes… both clean and lewd, obviously.  The first made him roll his eyes, the second earned me a lecture on why we shouldn’t reference particular parts of the human anatomy in such a way.  I’ve also tried puns and it got me nothin’! You think the guy would’ve cracked under one of his favourite forms of word play, but nope. I got a smile and then he got me back with some of his own.”

Noct sighed where he stood, still leaning slightly against Prompto’s side.  “Maybe Prompto’s right? Maybe he has so many things in his head because of me that he forgot how to just laugh and have fun?”

Hearing this, Prompto instantly frowned and gave his friend a slight squeeze around his shoulders.

“I was only jokin’, buddy.  I’m sure that’s not it. Maybe… maybe he was just born without a funny bone?”

“A what?” Noct asked, looking over at the blond who instantly sent him a beaming smile.

“You know… a funny bone!  Like this one, or this one!” he stated, sending a few pokes with his free hand into Nocts ribs, instantly making the Prince chuckle and try to shimmy away.

“O-Okay!  Okay! I get it!” he laughed as Prompto ceased his attack and let his friend scurry away.  However, the sunshine childs beaming smile turned into one of mischief and mayhem.

“Hey… you guys thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?” he asked, glancing at his friends.

Noct, who was busy rubbing his side found himself starting to smile as well as he caught on to the idea.  

“That we should see if we can’t help Specs find his funny bone?” he asked, a little glee slipping into his voice.  If he was the cause of Ignis not laughing then he wanted to be part of the remedy to bring it back.

“You realize if you fail Iggy will break  _ all _ your bones and not just the funny ones, right?” Gladio asked with a smirk of his own as he watched the plot unfolding before him.

“Well… you’re an accessory to this now so even if you don’t help Iggy is still gonna come after you,” Noct said with a smug smile as the Shield gaped at him.

“What?!”

“You heard the man!  You know our plan. So either you can help us find Iggy’s missing funny bone or… you can wait for him to murder us and then come looking for you next.  Your choice,” Prompto said lightly.

Groaning slightly, Gladio threw his sweaty towel at Prompto’s head, the photographer laughing and swatting it away.

“Fine.  Then how do you wanna do this?”

\---------------------------------------

Standing at the campstove, Ignis had just added a bit of fried Anak meat to the stew he’d been working on the better part of the afternoon.  He stirred the contents of the pot, making sure everything looked perfectly mixed together before placing the lid on top to let it cook down for their dinner this evening.  If he was lucky, the vegetables had been diced and chopped thin enough that most of them would simply become a thickening agent, tricking the Prince into getting in at least a small dose of something healthy.

Stepping back now he glanced around the haven at the lush green grass that surrounded it.  It was a beautiful spot really and a nice reprieve from the hunts they’d been going on recently.  Just a good area all around to relax and take a bit of a breather for a moment.

Though picturesque he was still surprised at how peaceful the day had been so far.  Prompto and Noct had run off to go fishing, Gladio was away getting in a little extra training with the new greatsword they’d been able to purchase from the weaponry vendor.  All in all the day couldn’t have been more pleasant. Maybe he’d even be able to do a little something for himself later, though to be perfectly honest, he wasn’t quite sure what that would entail.

Sadly he wouldn’t be given much time to think on it either.

As Ignis stood looking out over the scenery he felt something hit his shoulder before it dropped to the ground at his feet.  Looking down he noticed a red chocobo fishing lure and instantly his heart filled with dread.

“WARP STRIKE!”

In a flash of blue, Noctis was colliding with him, sending the Advisor reeling and falling back onto the haven floor, a smiling Prince all but wrapped around him.

“What in the bloody hell is going on here?!” he shouted as he tried to extricate himself from under his Highness, only to be pinned down more securely.

“So, Prompto brought up something interesting today that I never realized before,” Noct said nonchalantly as he sat on the man’s stomach, Ignis’s wrists trapped under his knees.

“Oh?  And what, pray tell, might that be?  And why did it lead you to attack me?” Ignis grumbled, still shifting under the younger man, biding his time as he waited to see what all this was about.

“Well… you see..,” Noct rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before continuing.  “None of us have ever heard you laugh, Specs.”

Ignis instantly stopped his struggling and narrowed his eyes at the Prince, a few pieces of this ridiculous puzzle easily coming into focus now.

“Noct… I’m warning you here and now.  Don’t even think about it,” he growled, trying to put as much sternness into his voice as he could while lying vulnerable on what had to be the least comfortable haven they’d ever found.

The warning was a good sign to Noctis, his smile growing from awkward to teasing in a nanosecond.

“What?  We were just wondering if maybe you misplaced your funny bone or something.  And what kind of friends would we be if we didn’t help you find it, right?”

Nocts hands instantly rose up, fingers wiggling menacingly over the Advisors torso, making him twitch and struggle that much more.

“Noct!  Noct stop this this instant or I swear to Shiva herself you will be eating vegetables for the rest of this trip!” Ignis warned, watching as those fingers started to descend toward his stomach.

“Not until I find your funny bone, Specs!” Noct shot back, closing in on his target when suddenly he found his world upended.

In a burst of adrenaline, Ignis had managed to pry one of his wrists free from under Nocts knees.  Then using it to gain momentum he rolled over quickly, sending the Prince onto the glowing rocks, before springing up and running out toward the grassy field and toward a small gathering of trees he felt he could hide relatively easy in.

“We gotta runner!  Team Beta move out!” Noct called, springing up and starting to give chase.

“Read you loud and clear, Noct!” Prompto called from farther ahead.

Between the haven and the small forest, Prompto had been lying in wait in a little rock outcropping should Ignis break away from Noct.

Honestly, Ignis would’ve been a little proud of their foresight and planning if he wasn’t currently running from the mini-manhunt party.

Prompto jumped out in front of him as he got closer, arms wide as if he was simply going to catch the Advisor in some sort of warm embrace.

Rolling his eyes, Ignis instantly took his advantage.  Running full tilt toward Prompto he feigned left before pushing off quickly with his left foot to jump up against one of the taller rocks.  Then, using it as a solid springboard he kicked off, somersaulting mid-air over Prompto to keep from kicking him and to give him a little extra spin and distance…… only to be captured upon landing as he collided with the solid chest of Gladio.

“Woo!!!  Well done Team Delta!” Prompto cheered as Gladio held a squirming and flailing Ignis to his chest.

The Advisor only stopped a moment when he heard the team name and looked up at the Shield.

“Team Delta?  What happened to Team Charlie?” he asked, even caught up in this ridiculousness he couldn’t help but be bothered by the missing rank.

Gladio grumbled and narrowed his eyes as Noct drew closer.

“Got demoted after tellin’ Noct his idea was stupid,” he groused as the Prince finally caught up with them, a victorious smile on his lips.

“Yeah… and look how well the plan worked!” he said smugly as he caught his breath.  “Now… we’re doing this for your own good, Iggy. Honest.”

Caught up in the worlds biggest and burliest bear hug, Ignis found his fate drawing closer and clamped his mouth shut before closing his eyes to steel his resolve.

It was a futile effort.

With Gladio’s arms locked around his upper arms, it left a good portion of Ignis’s sides, stomach and ribs available for the Prince to take advantage of… and take advantage he did.

His fingers quickly latched onto Ignis’s sides, squeezing and spidering up to his lower ribs as the Advisor jumped in Gladio’s hold and a small squeak escaped.

“Look!  Look it’s working!” Prompto cheered from the sidelines as Ignis shook his head, a smile starting to form over his lips.

“Come on, Specs!  You gotta have funny bone somewhere,” Noct teased as his fingers reached a little lower to drill against the taller mans hips.

“N-Noct!” the Advisor yelped, though no discernable laughter had escaped yet, his face was already turning a lovely shade of red as he continued to fight against the ticklish sensations.

Narrowing his eyes, Noct let his fingers wander, one hand moving to claw right in the center of Ignis’s stomach while the other slowly started to wander back up his side.

“I think we’re getting close to that missing funny bone, Iggy.  Don’t you think? I think it’s right here? Here? Or maybe riiiiight… here!”

With the final exclamation he moved both hands up to tickle and vibrate against his lower ribs and Ignis finally broke.

Loud, wild laughter escaped the bespectacled man as he struggled against Gladio’s hold and the horribly ticklish sensations coursing through his body.  Noct was absolutely merciless, finding the spaces right between the bones and tickling with an evil precision he didn’t realize the Prince had. Ignis felt his knees going weak and was soon being fully supported by the Shield when suddenly it happened.  A rather unbecoming and horrendously loud snort erupted from him and everything stilled in an instant.

Ignis’s cheeks were positively crimson now as he hung his head, trying to catch his breath and unwilling to look any of them in the eye.  This was exactly why he never laughed in polite company! Because he sounded like an absolute buffoon and many people had made it  _ quite _ clear that it was something he should hide and be ashamed of.

“Woah…,”

“Did he just…,”

Gladio and Noctis were both stunned at hearing the normally stoic man sounding so completely unrefined.

Prompto, however, seemed to be sensing the absolutely miserable mind frame that Ignis was spiraling down and stepped forward.

Ignis heard the footsteps drawing near and wondered if perhaps Prompto was going to take a picture of this horrifyingly embarrassing moment so they could all laugh about it later.  Such would be his luck.

What he wasn’t expecting was to feel fingers tickling at the back of his neck, instantly making him squeak and scrunch his shoulders up as a few giggles inadvertently slipped out, followed by another snort.

“See?  I knew we’d find his funny bone!” Prompto offered with a kind smile as he continued the light tickling, making Ignis both relax and laugh a bit more.  Where he’d been expecting ridicule he found none. Only the smile of someone he considered an honest and true friend. He was being silly thinking that they would tear him down for something like this.  But the mind has a funny of way of warping your insecurities into something bigger that what they really are.

“I was getting worried there!  I thought you might actually not have it in ya, but you have one of  _ the  _ best laughs in the world, Iggy!  There’s no way we’re gonna let you hide it now,” he gunner said lightly as Noct seemed to come out of his reverie, realize what was happening and smile as well.

“Yeah, Specs.  Why you been holding out on us?” he asked, fingers starting to squeeze around the man’s sensitive lower ribs again and getting another wild laugh out of him, quickly followed by, what would become, his trademark snort.

“I-I s-sahahaound sihihilly!” he tried to reply, shaking his head and trying to wriggle away from the group.

“Not even close, Iggy,” Gladio rumbled from behind him, giving him a little squeeze around the middle and letting his own fingers lightly tickle where they were pressed against his upper ribs.  “It’s a laugh. It’s not silly, it’s carefree, and it’s honest. Nothing fake about it which makes it better.”

Ignis wished he could take these compliments to heart, but right now, with his ribs and neck being tickled as they were all he could do was giggle, snort and laugh like he hadn’t done in ages.

A few minutes later the attack ceased, Gladio loosening his hold though he kept his arms around him as Ignis seemed a little unsteady on his legs right now.

“I… I thought… you’d find me ridiculous,” he admitted, cheeks dusted pink and a smile still on his lips as he leaned against Gladio.  “Thank you… for… not teasing me. And for… finding my funny bone.”

Noct smiled brightly at that and nodded, puffing his chest out proudly.

“Of course, Specs!  I’m just sorry that I had to  _ lure _ it out of you,” he said, holding up the fishing lure he’d used in his warp strike on the poor man.

Ignis instantly snorted again, covering his mouth and shaking his head.

“Okay, okay.  Enough. You may actually break him if you don’t let him get a breather in,” Gladio warned with a fond smile.  “So… you gonna stop hiding your laugh from us then, Iggy?"

As Ignis got himself back under control he nodded, bringing a hand up to adjust his glasses.  “Yes. I fear what repercussions may happen if I do-HIC!”

Ignis’s eyes grew wide as he brought his hands up to clamp over his mouth, staring around at all of them in turn.

Prompto instantly started giggling, a look of pure glee spreading all over his freckled face.

“You also get hiccups when you laugh?!  Oh my gods that is the most precious thing I’ve ever heard!”

Ignis groaned as he lowered his hands, looking up to the heavens.

“Oh bollu-HICS!”

Gladio and Noctis were soon to follow in Prompto’s laughter, earning them all a fond glare from the man.  However, there was no way he could actually be mad at these ridiculous men he was lucky enough to consider his friends.

Besides... how many people would go through such lengths to help find your funny bone?


End file.
